A car's fan base reflects a lot about the car's image.
A sporty car with high horsepower and low price attracts a lot of schmucks IMHO.

Perhaps it's a good thing Mazda keeps the horsepower down on the Miata and the RX-8.

 

Well I have seen my fair share of asshats driving RX8's as of late. With the price of them dropping through the floor, and used ones going for less than your basic Civic, look out. As for Mazda keeping down the horsepower on the RX8 and Miata on purpose, please. If they could get a reliable 280hp out the RX8 you can be sure we would have it. If I remember correctly this car was rated at 250 hp when I leased it in 2004. You can be sure the Miata/MX5 will have a Mazdaspeed version soon making at least 250-260 hp.

 

I "get it" a hell of a lot more than you, apparently.

 

Look what you've done Tiff!

 

i dont understnd why mazda doesnt introduce an fi version of this car. i have the Pettit system on and it totlaly changes things. with a good conservative tune and the additional cooling we have improvised this package can be very solid. If Mazda can give an 8 yr 100K on the core pRRTS OF THIS ENGINE THERE IS NO REASON THEY COULDNT OFFER AN FI PACKAGE. They would have a real winner. Hell we also still get 22-23 mgh on the hgw
in stock form the car is a blast-very refined,with 290hp to the rear wheels you have a tenancy to say things like"Holey ----! NOW thats WHAT i AM TALKING ABOUT!.
unfortunately in oem form the car doesnt get much of a glance from anyone that is interested in performance. its sad. This is a great car, all it needs is a little more grunt and it would be an unforgettable car.
COme on Mazda--take your heads out of the sand.
olddragger

 

one of my favorite features about the rx-8, very good handling without the requirement for a super stiff suspension.

 

So, If I'm as good a driver as Tiff, AND I race another driver who is also as good as Tiff, THEN my car will lose, because it has less power.

You know what. I'm cool with that. Neither I, nor anyone I would ever end up racing on a track against would be as good as Tiff, and that makes it a fair fight if you ask me. Driver skill is far more important, and having a balanced car means its more forgiving of mistakes.

You can have your tail slide happy japanese hotrod and your one second. Enjoy it.

 

actually, for everyday driver and beginners, the 350z is much more forgiving because the power helps over come lack of driving skills. If you have to be really good at taking corners and managing entry and exit speed to drive the rx8 fast.

the rx8 is the better daily driver and to many the better over all car, theres no need for anyone to get pissed at the 350z just because the rx8 is not the superior track car.

 

hahaha i agree.

we should put the stig in the 8.....

 

I think its all about compromise. Trading power for 2 more seats, smoother ride and daily driveability is fair, IMHO.

So I guess your satisfaction of the RX-8 will depend on your priorities. You like power and speed? Or you're just looking for a sexy usable car?

I believe if we wanted everything, a bigger price tag will come along too.

My 2 cents.

 

you know people talk bad about the rx8 and its power. the rx-7 with turbo wasnt much faster stock. they ran 14.3-14.5. some rx-8's can manage 14.8 n/a.
At the same psi, the rx8 will murder the rx-7. THAT IS A FACT. the only reason you see 500+ hp rx-7's is because they jack the boost up to 15- 18 psi...or either have a 3-rotor. If you port the exhaust in the renesis you can run 16+ lbs of boost. The major problem that you will run into is heat. Once you tackle that, you will have a REW KILLER. People will disagree with what i just said, but I know what im talking about. Yank that turbo off of that rx-7 and race an rx-8 and see what happens.

 

Back when the 350z first came out it had 270hp and the suspension and brakes were not very well sorted out. Over the lifecycle of the car Nissan has made numerous improvements and refinements to the motor, suspension, and brakes. Now the Mazda is not competitive with it because Mazda did not do the same for the RX8.

If Mazda had invested in improving the power and suspension the way Nissan has I'm sure the RX8 could have been a faster car than the 350z is today.

 

^ So what you are saying is that it took Nissan about 5-6 years to beat the rx-8 by 1 sec. Meh.... fair enough.

 

^Yup. But we could be beating the 350z by 5 seconds if Mazda had done the same amount of work on the RX8.

 

^ nah... mazda is too busy coming out with new paint colours. So many shades of gray do we have now?

 

Not sure how much that would help. Tiff is a VERY good driver.

 

Uhhh...they DID put The Stig in it. The RX-8 lost to, I think, an Audi TT!

jds

PS: Regarding the comparisons with the 7...not really valid. The 7 was old tech, you have to stay within the same basic generation for the comparison to mean anything. When the domestic 7 was in production, it was hanging with NSXs and the like. Look at the last gen of 7 in Japan...what were they, upwards of 280 horsepower? That engine, and especially the turbos, was refined...something they don't appear to be doing with the Renesis, unfortunately.

You also can't say "yank the turbo off the 7 and compare." The powerplant in the 7 was designed from the ground up to be turbocharged. That's the only right way to do it, if you're an auto manufacturer. The 7 would of course have been a dog in that case...but its irrelevant.

 

C'mon, we all know that RX-8 > 350z

 

Not neccessarily true. Depends upon what you are looking for.

 

emissions.

that is why the whole alphabet flash soup is our world thing has gone wrong....
hey,

but what do i know.

beers

 

That's a little unfair. The VQ is one of Nissan's main line engines; it's development costs are spread out over many more models than that of the Renesis and thus there is more money spent on the development. Also, while Nissan did update the 350Z's suspension, Mazda did the same for the RX-8. It's just the differences are probably less noticeable on the RX-8 because the RX-8 from the very beginning was very well sorted chassis wise and didn't suffer the understeer or brake fade that 350Zs had. Also, while Nissan is taking the incremental approach with the VQ and trying to squeeze more power from that, Mazda is mostly investing in a brand new rotary architecture, and so a lot of the new advances probably cannot be applied to the current 13B.

 

well you have a point. but you missed my point. the 13b-rew wasnt neccessarily designed to be turbo-charged. The 13b-rew was derived from the 13BT/13b. It had a slightly larger intake manifold. In fact you can literally take the rotors from a 13BT/13b and place them in a 13b-rew, in fact most of mazda's rotary engines share almost exactly the same engine design.. Regardless of generation.... that plain engine cant touch the renesis(like you say,its new tech)... which gets back to my point. The Renesis running at the same PSI will give you a faster driving car than the rx-7 in most cases. Most people dont know that. Ive heard people say, "Just get an rx-7". For what??!?! those turbos in the rx-7 are weak and break in no time. But people think..i guess because of Vin Diesel, that the rx-7 is faster car. Do you know who many engine rewards Mazda has won for the rx8's renesis?? It speaks for itself. Dont hate the renesis.
Now i would be a lie if i said that the renesis wasnt weak. Because I do believe they shouldve packed at least 30 more hp at the wheels. But im happy with my 8. will be even happier when its turbocharged.

 

And now, everyone is saying the exact same thing I was.

 

You have to understand that we already know this and your just singing the same old song that was sung a long time ago. Stop beating the dead horse. Everybody has already said it to you, if you don’t like your options you should have gone with another car. Key word SHOULD HAVE

Funny how your history of post have your praising how fun the 8 is and how you'd get another one after your dad wants to get rid of it.

 

i remember watchin top gear with the stig driving the 8 and the 350z around the track.

they both did it in the same time!!!

j.clarkson said the 8 was more fun to drive, and the 350z tired you out.

if the rx8 was made out of aluminum, like the bonnet (hood) etc, would there be stability/handling issues due to the lighter metal?
could that help weight issues, allowing the car to accelerate more quickly etc?